Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair), April 7: In a script straight out of a Bollywood crime thriller, a Kerala gold theft case ended in the far reaches of North Andaman, where the prime accused was arrested from a hideout in Diglipur after allegedly living there in disguise.
The accused, identified as Prashant Sarkar, was held by a Kerala Police team with the assistance of Andaman and Nicobar Police in Madhupur, Diglipur, in connection with the alleged theft of around 140 grams of gold from an export firm in Thrikkakara, Kochi, in January this year.
Police said Sarkar, along with co-accused Rafiqul Munsi and Rahul Pandit, had allegedly stolen gold worth around ₹20 lakh before fleeing Kerala. Investigators were able to track Sarkar through his digital trail and inputs from local sources, which eventually led them to the remote Diglipur area.
It is not immediately clear whether Sarkar had any prior link to Diglipur. Investigators, however, suspect he may have chosen to hide there because, being Bengali, he could blend more easily into an area with a significant Bengali-speaking population.
Officials said no gold was recovered from Sarkar at the time of his arrest in Diglipur. Investigators believe the stolen gold had already been split or disposed of before he reached the islands.
The wider investigation, however, did yield a partial recovery. Police recovered around 76 grams of gold and nearly ₹2 lakh in cash believed to be linked to the partial sale of the stolen material. Several mobile phones were also seized and are now being examined for clues on the movement of the remaining gold.
The Kerala probe also led to the arrest of co-accused Rafiqul Munsi from Surat in Gujarat, where he too was allegedly living in concealment, and Rahul Pandit from Kolkata in a late-night raid.
Police sources said differences among the accused over the division of the stolen gold helped investigators piece together their movements and trace their locations.
After his arrest in Diglipur, Sarkar was formally handed over by Andaman and Nicobar Police to the Kerala Police team, which is continuing the investigation to recover the remaining gold and establish the full sequence of events behind the theft.
